Skirmisher Publishing wishes everyone a Super Saturnalia, a Happy Yule, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Festive Kwanza, a Terrific Zarathosht Diso, a Belated Bodhi Day, a Bountiful Boxing Day for King Wenceslas, a Cheery Needfest, a Fun Id al-Adha, a Warm Advent, a Cool Childermas, a Hangover-free Gantan-sai, and an overall Happy Holiday. Happy Birthday, Mithra! Party on, Bacchites, pass the vino! Woohoo Sekhmet, you go girl! Sol Invictus! Apologies to any others that have been overlooked, included followers of Isis, Mithra, Baldur, Apollo, Telchur, various Native American tribes, and assorted cults and groupings. Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!

Following are some of our upcoming major releases for 2006. There will be others, too!

“H.G. Wells’ Floor Games” follows our release of the great science fiction author’s “Little Wars,” and focuses on the use of props and miniatures in gaming. Like Well’s other Skirmisher release, this one is both informative and humorous.
RELEASE DATE: March 2006. Softcover, 80+ pages, $9.95, SKP 0601.

“Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition” takes the popular live-action horror game to a new level! Our version has been completely expanded, revised, updated, and improved by original author Robert “Mac” McLaughlin and his loyal team of people from the Innsmouth chamber of commerce. Bonus features will include an interactive DVD.
RELEASE DATE: June 2006.

“Noble Wild” is a beautiful, comprehensive d20 book that gives players and DMs alike the tools they need to create detailed animal characters. Not intended for the fuzzy at heart! While this book can be used to create cute characters, it is intended to bring the fiercest and most compelling aspects of beast-kind to the gaming table.
RELEASE DATE: August 2006.

The fan-driven campaign to save King's Quest IX has been successful. On Friday, Dec. 9, Vivendi Universal Games announced that they have agreed to allow the fan-made game "King's Quest IX" to be released, under the new title of "The Silver Lining." The group making the game will be granted a fan license.

"We are so thrilled with this news," says Matt Compton, one of the members of the Save King's Quest IX campaign. "We were very hopeful that if we organized the fans of the King's Quest series, we would be able to get Vivendi's attention. It feels so good to know that we were successful in doing that."

The Save King's Quest IX campaign was launched in mid-October, just a few weeks after Vivendi issued a cease and desist order to the fans making the game. The campaign focused on asking fans to send letters and emails to Vivendi, as well as having bloggers write about it.

"There are still many King's Quest fans around the world," says Cat Tyson, another member of the campaign. "We know it means so much to all of them that Vivendi has agreed to allow the game to be released. We've very grateful to Vivendi for this."

King's Quest IX is a fan-created project that has been in development since early 2002, and is based on the King's Quest series of adventure games made by Sierra Online. More than 40 people from around the globe have participated in its creation. Upon completion, the game will be made available as a free download on the game's Website.

"After extensive evaluation, Vivendi Universal Games is pleased to announce that the fan developed trilogy project 'The Silver Lining' (previously known as King's Quest IX: Every Cloak Has A Silver Lining), based on characters from Sierra Entertainment's "King's Quest" series, has been given approval to continue development," Vivendi announced Dec. 9. "We look forward to seeing the first of its three upcoming chapters, 'Shadows', completed soon."

Screenshots from the game can be found at www.kqix.com/media/screenshots/.

Following is a bit about two of this year's major releases.

Experts v.3.5, the d20 sourcebook dedicated to the Expert NPC class that we released at Gen Con, was our biggest release of the year and possibly the nicest book we have ever produced. It has received excellent reviews all around and is being accepted by many D&D/d20 gamers as a “core” sourcebook. It is currently moving into retail distribution and you are still in good time to order what is sure to be a hot item for many of your customers. (Softcover, 176 pages, $24.95, SKP 0502, ISBN 0-9722511-9-7.)

Nuisances, our outrageous d20/OGL parody book, has been our hottest item of the year! Full of everything from irreverent humor to features like the “anti-Feat” Defect concept, this title moves quickly among any group of gamers who has a chance to see it. And unlike many gaming books, Nuisances appeals to gamers of many different age groups, from older gamers who get the inside jokes to younger ones who appreciate its offbeat take on gaming. (Softcover, 96 pages, $19.95, SKP 0403, ISBN 0-9722511-4-6.)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Troll Lord Games announced Nov. 30 that the Castles & Crusades adventure module Fingers of the Forsaken Hand is available for immediate shipping. It is the fourth adventure module released this year for the C&C role-playing game and is 24 pages with an MSRP of $8.95.

Fortune favors the bold! In the town of Brionne, at the base of the Sickle, stories are spun of a long forgotten complex buried deep in the ruins of that ancient mountain. There, the wealth of the ancients lies buried in long-sealed crypts, guarded by creatures of the netherworlds. Only the very brave, or very foolish, would dare to seek their fortunes in those forsaken halls.

Fingers of the Forsaken Hand is designed for six to eight characters of 8th-10th level. For more information visit the Troll Lord Games Website, And to speak with or harangue the authors or any one of the Troll Lords visit the Troll Lord Games message boards!